Page 18 of Sutton's Shadow

“What? He’s hot.”

“Dylan.”

“Ah, I see how it is. I’ll keep my hands to myself.”

Sutton’s eyebrows shot up to her hairline. “What are you talking about?”

“You’ve got the hots for Mr. Dimple.”

“No, I don’t,” she stated a little too emphatically.

“Okay, whatever you say.”

“I don’t,” Sutton insisted. “I can’t. Not since Liam.”

Dylan’s expression softened. “Liam would have wanted you to move on and not be alone for the rest of your life. You’re allowed to love again.”

“I know that. It’s just... he’s Liam’s best friend. It feels wrong.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. If he’s stirring some feeling inside you, why not see where it goes?”

“Isn’t there some sort of bro code against it?”

“I think it becomes null and void after death.”

Sutton rolled her eyes and groaned. “Dylan.”

She giggled. “Okay, sorry. But it doesn’t hurt to try, does it? From what I can tell, he’s a good guy.”

“He is. I just... I don’t know.” She lowered her head to her hand and started rubbing the scar at her temple. It was an unconscious gesture she hated. The scar was a vivid reminder of her worst day. A reminder of how royally she’d screwed up. She couldn’t look at it without hating herself.

“Okay, I’ll drop it for now. But Sutton, if you ever need to talk, I’m here.”

“I know,” she answered, grabbing her friend’s hands. Taking a deep breath, she changed the subject. “Tell me more about the missing girls.”

“There have been rumors that a group from South America is operating in the Midwest.”

“Are the Phoenix Paladins involved?” Sutton asked quietly. The group was extremely covert and didn’t draw attention to themselves. The Paladins worked in the shadows to combat child trafficking. Dylan was one of their leaders, a secret kept from the world. Sutton only knew about the group because she’d stumbled across them years ago while working on a story.

“They are,” Dylan confirmed. “That was my main purpose in confronting Dodd today. I needed to gauge his reaction to take back to the Paladins.”

“Do you think he’s involved somehow?”

“I’m not sure. It’s unusual that no one else in his department knew about the missing girls.” Sutton nodded her agreement, lost in thought. “Tell me about Deputy McClintock.”

“Ian? I don’t know him that well. He seems like a decent guy. You should ask Natalie and Maddie Ghannon. They know him a lot better than I do. They’ve been friends for years. I think he had a hand in saving Natalie from an abusive ex.” Sutton had heard whispers of an attack on her old college friend. Something involving drugs. Natalie had barely survived but was now flourishing and engaged to be married. She was thrilled her friend had overcome such a tragedy to find love again.

“Hmm. I just might do that.”

“Do you think he’d help?”

“It would certainly help the Paladins to have someone inside law enforcement. But it remains to be seen if we can trust him.”

“Well, let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.” As soon as the words left her mouth, her hands shook. Two years ago, this was the type of thing she would have loved to sink her teeth into, leading with her camera. But now, the thought of using her camera to unearth a big story like this one struck fear in her heart.

Chapter 6

“Howdiditgoyesterday?” Graham Whitaker asked Wyatt the next day as they worked with the free weights in the gym. The Nighthawks campus was ideal for training, including a section where they could develop much needed urban search techniques. The Nighthawks trained their clients on the skills needed to save someone from a building that had collapsed. And in this day and age, when you never knew when the next terrorist attack would occur, those skills were a valuable commodity.

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